Upcoming events.
Rare Book School - Fall Open House
RBS Fall Open House
Date: 17 October 2025
Time: 1:00–4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Rare Book School, Suite 230, UVA Shannon Library, 160 McCormick Road, Charlottesville VA 22904
Presented by: Rare Book School
You are cordially invited to join the Rare Book School staff for our Open House on Friday, 17 October from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET in the RBS Suite (UVA’s Edgar Shannon Library, Room 230) to:
Print a letterpress keepsake
Experience a selection of book items—with a focus on miniature and oversized books—from our world-class teaching collection
Try your hand at gold foil stamping in a bookbinding demonstration
Learn about Rare Book School’s courses and programs, including fellowship opportunities for UVA undergraduate and graduate students
Find out how you can use your faculty/staff UVA education benefit to cover RBS course tuition
Enjoy light snacks and refreshments
This event is free and open to the public.
Off-Script - Casey Logan A'Hearn - “What Does It Mean To Be Mormon and American?” Scripturalizing John J. Stewart’s Pamphlets Program
“What Does It Mean To Be Mormon and American?” Scripturalizing John J. Stewart’s Pamphlets Program!
Casey Logan A’Hearn
(Graduate Student, Preinceton University)
November 14, 2025
SBL Session in Boston - P22-306s Celebrating the Work and Legacy of James W. Watts in the Study of Iconic Books and Texts
All are welcome to join this appreciation and celebration for SCRIPT and Iconic Books Project co-founder, James W. Watts, upon his retirement. Proceedings of this session will become part of a special issue of PostScripts Journal.
Session Chairs
Respondent
David Dault, Loyola University of Chicago
Respondent
Dorina Parmenter, Spalding University
Respondent
S.B. Rodriguez-Plate, Hamilton College
Presentations
Ritual, Rhetoric, and the Non-semantic Dimensions of Sacred Texts: James W. Watts’s Pioneering Work on the Non-semantic Studies of Scriptures
Yohan Yoo, Seoul National University
The Ritualization of Non-textual Icons
Lauren K. McCormick, Princeton University
AAR Session in Boston - P23-302 - SCRIPT General Session
Theme: Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts: General Session
David Dault, Loyola University, Chicago, presiding
This session will feature papers and discussion on a range of issues relating to the study of iconic texts, material scriptures, and the social contexts of holy books and writings.
Papers
Rachel Fell McDermott
“Stripping, Shaming, Substituting, Solemnzing: How to Live with a National Poet”
Casey A'Hearn, Princeton University
Heritage is Choice: When Latter Day Saints Construct the Lamanite
Jack Brownfield
The Pastoral-Performative Function of Scripture in Jerome's Consolation Letters
Institute for Signifying Scriptures Annual Meeting
Seminar Theme: Diaspora
Dates: February 5-7, 2026
Site: The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
MEETING DESCRIPTION
The Institute for Signifying Scriptures will convene for a seminar on the social rupture known as “diaspora.” From ancient contexts to contemporary strivings, diaspora challenges us to frame the tensions of social displacement and communal belonging. Participants will explore how human beings make sense of themselves, others, and their surrounding worlds after the violence of dispersion. Through museum exhibitions, guided historical tours, and critical discussion, our circle will consider scripturalization as historical erasure, cultural (re)formation, and technology of difference-making. This will be an amazing event for professional scholars, graduate students, and thoughtful persons interested in critical exchange.
SEMINAR TEXT
Stephen Best
None Like Us: Blackness, Belonging, Aesthetic Life
(Duke University Press, 2018)
REGISTRATION
In-person registration: $100 which includes the following:
-Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments on Friday 2/6 and Saturday 2/7
-Closing dinner on Saturday evening 2/7
-Group airport transportation on Thursday 2/5 and Sunday 2/8
Online registration: $50
-includes participation in meeting sessions and conversations
Off Script - Peer Review: A Year of Off-Script
You are invited to register at SowingtheSeed.org/off-script. When you fill out the form, we will send you the Zoom link.
Off Script - Brad Anderson, “More than Words: Reflecting on the Use and Impact of Scriptures Beyond Reading.“
You are invited to register at SowingtheSeed.org/off-script. When you fill out the form, we will send you the Zoom link.
AAR Eastern International Region 2025
Join us for the AAR Eastern International Regional Meeting at St. Lawrence University
Off Script - Joanna Homrighausen, “Unrolling the Megillah: The Esther Scroll as Jewish Scripture, Artifact and Liturgical Prop.”
You are invited to register at SowingtheSeed.org/off-script. When you fill out the form, we will send you the Zoom link.
Dr. David Dault - Keynote Address - Midwest AAR Meeting
SCRIPT President Dr. David Dault (Loyola University Chicago) will deliver the keynote address at the 2025 Midwest Regional AAR meeting, to be held at Missiouri State University in Springfield, Missiouri. More details to follow soon.
Off Script - Jeffrey Turner, “Experiments in Scriptures and the Digital Study of Religion.”
You are invited to register at SowingtheSeed.org/off-script. When you fill out the form, we will send you the Zoom link.
Off-Script: “Get to Know…: The Institute for Signifying Scriptures” with Dr. Jacqueline Hidalgo (University of San Diego)
Off-Script is a monthly Zoom conversation for graduate students and scholars interested in the critical comparative study of scriptures. Think of it as a get-together for our subfield to connect, converse, and collaborate. From professional development to workshopping ideas, Off-Script is your chance to network (in the best possible and least scary way) with scholars who get it and what you do.
For more information and to register: https://sowingtheseed.org/off-script/
Off-Script: Dr. Sonia Hazard and Dr. David Dault
Featuring a discussion of the Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts and the Rare Books School